Sheldon Smith
Sheldon Perkins Smith was born on June 27, 1931 in Rhode Island. His family moved to Tattnall County, Georgia in 1832. He married Frances Elisabeth Bell in 1853. Sheldon and Frances are direct ancestors of Anna Peterson in the 6th generation (great-great-great-great-grandparents) through their daughter, Frances Rebecca Smith, who married Harrison Clifton. Sheldon died on October 23, 1927 in Hilliard, Nassau County, Florida. He is buried in Smith Cemetery in Toombs County, GA. View on: Find-a-Grave, WikiTree. Ancestry Sheldon's immigrant ancestors include William Arnold, Christopher Smith (from whom he inherited the surname), Edward Smith (no known relation to Christopher), Robert Stanton, and William Carpenter, all of which came from England and settled in Rhode Island. There are multiple instances of "inbreeding" in Sheldon's tree; for example, William Arnold appears at least six times. Sheldon's father, Nicholas, was first married to Sarah Perkins. She died with no known children. Nicholas then married Urania Tourtellot Aborn, Sheldon's mother. Sheldon is apparently named for his father's first wife. Articles USGW Archives: Tattnall Biographies USGWArchives.net SMITH, Sheldon P., retired merchant and fanner, Perry's Mills, Tattnall Co., Ga., son of Nicholas and Urania T. (Aborn) Smith, was born in Rhode Island June 27,1831. The family were among the early settlers of Rhode Island. Mr. Smith's father was born March 11,1787, and his mother July 23,1798. When Mr. Smith was about a year old (1832) his parents migrated to Georgia and settled in Tattnall county, where his father engaged in merchandising. They had eight children, of whom Mr. Smith was the fourth, five of whom are now living. Mr. Smith was given the best education the schools of the county afforded, and then was sent to Hinesville (Liberty county, Ga) high school, at that time in charge of Prof. Bradwell, father of Hon. S. D. Bradwell, the late able state school commissioner. He succeeded his father in his mercantile business, and has also been engaged in farming. About 1861 he was elected justice of the peace and notary public in the district since. Just after the war he was appointed postmaster at Perry's Mills, and has held the office from that time until now. He was not in active service during the war, but he represented Tattnall county (1863-65) in the general assembly. He was married Dec. 5, 1853, in Tattnall county, to Miss Frances Bell, born Aug. 15, 1833, daughter of Joseph J. and Elizabeth (Johnson) Bell, of Tattnall county. To them thirteen children have been born, eight of whom are now living. Mr. Smith is spending his declining years at his plantation home in the southwestern part of Tattnall county, where he has lived since 1832. A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume 5, 1917 GeneologyTrails.com, Mocavo.com When someone speaks of the grand old man of Lyons and Toombs County it is only the stranger in that community who has to be informed that reference is made to the venerable judge of the Probate Court, Sheldon Perkins Smith. Now nearly eighty-five years of age, practically his entire life has been one of unselfish service and devotion to his fellow men and his home community. It is common report in Toombs County that Judge Smith, as a result of his impulsive and broad-minded generosity, has given away a fortune. In fact he has apparently found his chief pleasure in helping those that needed help, regardless of politics, religion or creed. It would be difficult to conceive a higher degree of esteem than that paid by his fellow citizens to this fine old citizen of Lyons. Born in the State of Rhode Island June 27, 1831, Judge Smith is a son of Nicholas Peek and Urania (Turtelott) Smith. America has been the home of this branch of the Smith family for about two centuries. The immigrant ancestor was Christopher Smith, who came from England and settled in Rhode Island, and his oldest son was Benjamin. The line of descent thenceforward is traced through Stephen, Simeon, Nicholas and finally Judge Smith. On the maternal side the Turtelott family were French Huguenots. Judge Smith's grandmother Dorcas Turtelott married Capt. Jonathan Aborn, who was master of a sailing vessel, and he died while on a voyage at Calcutta, India, in June, 1820. The family was established in Georgia by Nicholas Peck Smith, who in 1824 came to Tattnall County and established a mercantile enterprise. In 1832 he sent North for his family, and they made their home on the Altamaha River in Tattnall County, where he continued his career as a successful merchant and planter until his death in 1867 at the age of eighty years. His wife passed away in 1841. There was a large family of children, including the following: Dorcas, who died in Toombs County in February, 1911; Daniel, who died in Plainfield, New York; Urania, who married Farquhar McRae, and she died at Mount Vernon; Sheldon Perkins, next in age; Nicholas P., who died of yellow fever at Savannah in 1876; Mary A., who first married Dr. Lucien Tucker, and is now the widow of Dr. James Harrison and resides in Washington, D. C.; Elizabeth died in Liberty County, Georgia, in 1858; Robert A. died at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1863 from typhoid fever while in the Confederate army. The daughter’s, were all educated in the Ladies' Seminary at Warren, Rhode Island. Judge Smith finished his education under a private tutor, Col. J. S. Bradwell, at Hinesville, Georgia. For a number of years he was with his father in the store, until the latter's death, and then employed his resources in merchandising and planting in Tattnall County. The most prominent feature of his career, however, has not been his business success, but his official service. During the Civil war Governor Joseph E. Brown, the war governor of Georgia, appointed him justice of the peace for Tattnall, later Toombs County, and that office he filled with admirable ability and with an administration of justice which was firm but kindly, sympathetic and interested, for fully half a century, from 1863 until 1913. In 1913 Judge Smith was elected Judge of Probate or Ordinary for Toombs County, and in that dignified and useful office it is likely that he will spend his last days. Judge Smith has always been an admirer of the principles of Masonry, though he has never joined the order himself. On December 5, 1853, in Tattnall County he married Miss Frances Bell, who was born in Tattnall County, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth E. (Johnson) Bell. Her mother was the daughter of Allen E. Johnson. After more than half a century of married companionship Mrs. Smith passed away in June, 1908. Thirteen children were born to her, and a number of them are still living and filling dignified and useful positions in the world. Elizabeth died in 1871; Frances E. is the wife of Harrison Clifton, of Toombs County; Dorcas married Henry Mann and died in Toombs County; Joseph B. is a resident of Kingsland, Georgia; Sheldon P. lives in Geneva, Florida; Nicholas was accidentally killed by the Southern Railway at Baxley, Georgia; Mary, who married Dan McMillan died in Montgomery County, Georgia; Octavia died in Tattnall County; Robert is now state representative from Toombs County and a farmer in that locality; Allen is an engineer for the Georgia Southern Railway at Valdosta; Daisy is the wife of J. A. Pearson, who alternates in residence between Savannah and Tattnall County; Simeon died in infancy; Louise lives at home with her father in Lyons. Prior to the war both Judge Smith and his father owned from forty to fifty slaves and conducted one of the largest plantations in Tattnall County. However, slavery was not an institution which Judge Smith favored, and he literally fought the secession movement in Georgia, and for that reason aroused much ill feeling and prejudice against him. The unpopularity of that time has long since passed away, and the views which he advocated almost alone have long since been accepted by the great majority of right thinking people.